"Shield hero!" Saitama turned to the youthful voice that called him by his title. Or maybe it was a job label? The boy wore low-level guard attire, defining him to be fresh out of training. "Sir, Shield hero!" He came closer, running as fast as he could. Raphtalia had noticed him too. She kept her hand near her scabbard in case there were any issues with the guard.

When the boy arrived in front of Saitama and his companion, he bent over to rest his body on his knees. Saitama let the boy catch his breath, he had nothing else to do. The boy finally rose to his full height, which wasn't impressive at all, he smiled at Saitama and Raphtalia.

"Do you need something?" Saitama awkwardly asked the kid. The boy quickly straightened up before falling into a deep bow.

"Thank you so much for saving me, sir Shield hero. And my home!" He kept his bent posture as he continued to speak. "I'm sorry for not being able to help you save my village!" He was slowly running out of breath. "And I'm sorry for not stopping my captain from bombarding you and your companion!" Saitama was slowly getting tired of this. "Thank you so much! You saved everyone! Even my little..." Saitama's mind started to wander.

'Geez, does this kid know how to calm down?' Saitama mentally sighed. 'I guess he was almost killed just now and his home was almost completely destroyed.' Saitama glanced down at the kid that was still naming everyone he saved, some of them were even just wanderers that Raphtalia saved. 'But could he breathe for a second? He looks like he's turning blue... oh, he is.'

Saitama flicked the boy's forehead causing him to bring his body upright. He was still reeling from the surprise of being flicked. "Hey, don't forget to breathe. I don't want your unconsciousness to be blamed on me." Saitama lightly scolded. The guard's face turned beet red before bowing once more.

"My apologies!" He shouted. Saitama was about to flick his forehead again when he pulled out a parchment. "I was also tasked with delivering this message" He stood straight again and cleared his throat. "There will be a banquet to celebrate the victory over the wave. You have been asked to attend in the royal castle." The boy smiled at Saitama and Raphtalia.

"Oh, thanks, I guess." Saitama took the paper from the guard. The guard's features got brighter. He bowed one more time before running back towards Lute village.

Saitama looked down at the paper. It was true, he was requested to attend a banquet. A banquet for defeating the wave. A banquet where the other heroes and their party members, that probably all hate him, will be attending. But most importantly, a banquet and banquets have free food. Free food.

Raphtalia smiled at the childish personality of the guard. Perhaps they weren't all that bad. But it still might not be a good idea to go to a place with people that might want to hurt master Saitama. "I think we should-" She was about to propose traveling towards Faubrey in search of ways for them--her--to get stronger but she stopped herself when she saw her master starting to drool.

"Let's go! There's a party waiting for us!" Saitama started jogging towards the castle, leaving Raphtalia behind with a cloud of dust.

"W-Wait for me!" She shouted at him, trying to keep up.

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"Heroes!" The king of Melromarc, king Aultcray, announced to the people attending his fantastic celebration. "I appreciate the efforts of your journey!" He raised his cup high with a grand smile, excitement flushing his features. "We received little damage compared to last time. Even I cannot hide my surprise about it!" He raised both his arms to address everyone in the room. "Tonight, we feast! Enjoy yourselves to the fullest!" He took a large gulp of his wine-filled goblet as the party-goers began to have at it with what there was.

Food was eaten, jokes were told, and smiles were shared. Joy flooded throughout the room as people began to toil with others, both familiar and unknown. Heroes were followed by their posses, sometimes breaking apart to mingle with another group before chugging down wine and returning to their group. People challenged each other in acts of strength while empowering their comradery before chugging down wine and returning to their activities. People ate the finest baked goods before chugging down wine and returning to their food. People chugged wine before returning to chugging wine. Melromarc truly was a place forged around alcohol. The only people that weren't mingling with others, or chugging wine, were Saitama and Raphtalia.

Instead of joining the others, the two got their food and sat down to eat. Raphtalia hadn't cared much for meeting anyone else, instead, being insistent to stay by the side of her hero. Saitama wanted food, so he did just that and only that. While she wouldn't admit it, Raphtalia was also enticed by the amount of food that was there.

But in the pool of people, one rumor just got thrown in the wrong direction. Motoyasu was furious once again. "Ah, there he is!" He shouted, marching towards the turned back of Saitama. "Don't move one step from there, Saitama!" He marched right behind Saitama, his fire-filled eyes pointing down at the bald dome that perfectly reflected that fire.

"I heard about it!" He continued. "I heard about how the girl who is with you, Raphtalia, is your slave!" The very moment he said that all the noise in the room stopped existing as if turned off like a light switch. Everyone was staring at Saitama, Raphtalia was staring at Motoyasu with her own flame, and Saitama was staring at his pork.

Motoyasu continued to glare down at Saitama, neither of them moving as everyone else in the room stared at the two. At the moment Saitama moved, Motoyasu gripped his spear tighter. Saitama slowly turned his head to look at every one. At that moment everyone saw one thing.

Confusion. "Huh? Did something happen?" Saitama asked the gawking crowd. The crowd had to physically stop their jaws from dropping at the absurdity of Saitama's lack of awareness. This man was just shouted at by one of the most important people in the world, was being stared at by some of the most important people in this country, and he hadn't noticed a single thing.

Motoyasu's features contorted into frustrated fury. Saitama turned around, finally taking notice of Motoyasu standing right there. "When did you get here?" Saitama then noticed the features Motoyasu was presenting. "Do you have to use the bathroom?" And he completely mistook them for constipation.

Raphtalia jumped from her seat, her expression even fiercer than Motoyasu's. "That's not how it is!" In the background, Saitama muttered, "That's not how what is?" She felt a grinding rage boil at this terrible accusation happening to the man that had saved her. "I am not his sl-!" Before she could finish, she was forcefully gagged and pulled away.

"Eh? What's happening?" Saitama was looking around, trying to find an answer. The king stepped forward, a scowl on his face.

"A hero who would dare to use a slave..." Saitama held back a choke. "Of course it would be none other than the criminal shield hero." It was happening to him again. Another ludicrous accusation, but this was worse. Slavery, something he didn't support at all, even something he beat up a bunch of bandits for, was now being used to accuse him.

"Let's have a duel!" Motoyasu shouted, grabbing Saitama's attention again. "If I win, you'll release her!" He yelled at Saitama.

"Wait, but she's not my sla-" Saitama was interrupted.

"In comparison, Lord Motoyasu is a compassionate man. I will permit this duel." Saitama was being pushed around without a single bit of his voice getting through. The King brought his face close to Raphtalia's, "Upon Lord Motoyasu's victory, we will remove that curse posthaste. Once the court magician attends to it, it will simply be a matter of time." He wore a sinister smile as he glared down at Raphtalia. "The duel will take place in the palace gardens!"

The moment the king said that all the confusion and irritation evaporated from Saitama's face. All that was left was a darkened, blank expression. Without even knowing, they were exploiting one of Saitama's biggest weaknesses. The one thing that he feared both here and in his world. The law.

Never had he ever wanted to cross the law or get caught doing so. While he could escape from any prison that was made for him, he had never thought of it. He only ever worried about being arrested in the first place. Even so, if he did escape a prison, there undoubtedly be extreme damage, and Saitama did not like paying.

The only reason he thought about the law in this situation is that the king himself is endorsing it. If he grabbed Raphtalia and ran he thought that the king would do something like label him a criminal. It doesn't sound right, but Saitama's logic was based on the few history lessons he remembered and they said that monarchies were often corrupt.

He composed himself. No matter what happens, to "win" in a cruel sense, he'd have to fight Motoyasu and come out on top. Not only will he need to duel Motoyasu to--hopefully--escape displeasing the king, but he'd also need to save Raphtalia. Saitama felt all the anxiety dilapidated from him, instead filled with that feeling from his first years of training.

Motoyasu walked up to Saitama. "Saitama, you can't be thinking of turning down this duel, right?" He got no answer. Saitama stared blankly in the direction of Raphtalia. "You coward!" At that moment Saitama glanced at Motoyasu, and in that dot of a pupil, Saitama had Motoyasu saw a star burning.

Motoyasu rolled, not expecting such a plain, yet odd, man like Saitama to be able to hold such a fury. In Saitama's eye, he saw the constant combusting of gas and thrashing flashes of light. At the same time, there was no malevolence or malice. The great ball of fire was not wishing for death and agony, nor did it seek vengeance, but it still burned bright.

A ball of pure determination that could light up an entire galaxy was what he was seeing. Motoyasu gulped. That was what Saitama was experiencing again. Immense determination.

Saitama looked away from Moroyasu. "Fine. Let's go." He spoke, absolutely no tone filling his words. He walked towards the doors and made his way to the gardens.

Once he left, the room burst out into a cacophony of whispers. "The shield hero against the lance?" One person chuckled. "What's he going on about? Acting as he can even fight the Spear Hero?" Another person spat. Throughout all their whispers, nearly everyone noticed the whispers, but only two cared.

Raphtalia felt a fire burning in her stomach. It was either fire or some of the food she had just eaten, but whatever it was, it was similar to the anger she felt. These people who just sit idly by had accused her master of slavery. The person that had actually fought against slavery. Her mind raced so many thoughts about hurting the rich spoiled people around her, even imagining that they themselves are benefiting from demi-human slavery. If she could, she would have burst out of the grip of the guards holding her down and ran after Saitama so they could leave. But she couldn't, she was forced to sit there and watch this happen. It reminded her of something. It reminded her of two people on the edge of a cliff being eaten by... She felt a greater fury well up, but inside that fury, she held despair.

She stopped her anger for just a second to shed a single tear. 'Please... please don't take Master Saitama away.' She pleaded to no one as she began imagining herself being forced out of the grasp of Saitama. The only person, in such a long time, to truly care about her.

Other than Raphtalia, a raven-haired boy took notice of the sheer amount of hatred the people around him held towards Saitama. He thought that he had committed a heinous crime before which would warrant anger, but this felt different. It felt like a seeded hatred pointing at Saitama just for being alive. He had his concerns about the Shield Hero and his curiosities, but more importantly, Ren had his doubts.

He can't quite put his finger on it, but something about that night of the rape and the day of the persecution felt off. He had felt such anger before but since then it had morphed into suspicion. How could this man, someone so dense and oblivious have been able to do such a thing? He just couldn't imagine Saitama doing it.

He glanced up at Raphtalia. He felt a pang in his chest when he noticed the single drop of water falling from her eye. He looked a bit closer. Her eyes were full of anger, but the sadness that he was able to see was directed towards the doors Saitama had walked through. It looked like despair, trauma maybe. Then it clicked. She looked like a child that was just abandoned This entire situation was making his doubt grow. If Saitama truly had enslaved her, then why would she be crying? Then he remembered something. 'What was it they were trying to say?' He remembered the two trying to say something about the accusation before being interrupted by someone, killing any chance they had of saying what they had wanted to say.

The more Ren thought about it, about all of it, the more he found himself staring at Motoyasu and Malty. A determination started to burn in Ren's own eyes too. He doesn't believe Malty's story anymore, nor does he trust the critical thinking skills of Motoyasu, he has to find out what really happened that night and why things turned out like this. But until then, he just has to watch and hope that nothing bad happens, or in Saitama's case, anything worse.

As the king, Motoyasu, Itsuki, and Malty left for the gardens, everyone sat in the room, continuing their chatter and spiteful words. They hadn't cared to watch the duel, thinking so lowly of Saitama as to imagine a duel for a person's life was not worth their time. With one last glance at Raphtalia being pulled towards the gardens by the guards he grimaced with a silent click of his tongue. Then he walked towards the garden.

________________________________________________________________________________

"A loss will occur should a competitor either be driven into a corner or concede to a loss, himself!" The king shouted at the two combatants and the few spectators from his overhanging balcony. "Henceforth, the duel between the hero of the spear and the Shield Hero will begin!" He completed by sitting down and leaning over the railing for a better view.

Motoyasu grinned. "So, it's a matter of contradiction. Which will triumph over the other: the sword or the shield?" He chuckled lightly. "This won't be much of a challenge though." Saitama didn't flinch from the blatant insult. "I mean, you have a shield what can you do against me?" Motoyasu began to expose his thoughts about Saitama. "In fact, what were you doing during the wave? I didn't see you at all. Did you go hide from the monsters?" He insulted Saitama again.

At the king's side, Raphtalia was being held. She felt venom boiling in her throat from what Motoyasu just said. She and Saitama had saved the poor defenseless people while they charged off, leaving anyone that got caught up to be slaughtered and torn apart. She thought that Motoyasu having the moniker of hero was an insult to everyone else that has, or had, the same title before. He was more akin to a blind horn dog, or at least one with severe mental incapabilities.

"I'll bring you to your knees for Raphtalia's sake!" The more he spoke the more she wanted to spit on the floor with distaste. She would if there wasn't a gag in the way. "Maybe after that, you'll-" He was cut off, however, when Saitama yawned.

Saitama scratched an itch on his thigh before yawning again. "You talk too much. Can we just get this done?" Motoyasu bit down on the flesh of his cheek in irritation at the pure lack of care Saitama displayed. Instead of mouthing off more, he raised his spear above his head and prepared his stance.

"You may now," The king raised his hand high. "Begin!" Before slicing his hand back down to signify the start of the duel.

The moment the king finished his sentence, Motoyasu dashed forward with an inhuman burst of speed aiming directly for Saitama's abdomen. He grinned, waiting for his blade to meet flesh or metal, instead, he clumsily caught himself after meeting no force whatsoever. Saitama had sidestepped the attack.

He snapped out of his brief confusion and swung his spear towards Saitama again. "Try this!" Saitama jumped over the low swipe. Motoyasu gritted his teeth as he brought his spear down like a hammer on the spot Saitama stood. He sidestepped that attack too, ignoring the small cracks it made in the dirt.

Motoyasu jumped back, preparing his stance again. "" he shouted as spears suddenly appeared and flew towards Saitama. "How's that for you?!" Motoyasu said, reeling from the effort he put into the attack. The dust from the attack settled, showing that there was nothing but holes in the ground and no sign of Saitama.

"How's about actually hitting me?" Saitama suggested. Motoyasu spun around and took a few steps back in shock. Somehow, Saitama had appeared behind him.

'Th-That's impossible! How could he do that? It must be some kind of cheatsy teleportation skill!' Motoyasu reasoned with himself as he let his body rest from the energy he just expelled. 'It doesn't matter! As long as I take this bastard out!' Motoyasu prepared to attack again.

"" He shouted again. Even more spears shot at Saitama. This time, Motoyasu didn't end the attack, not until he could barely feel his arms. When he was attacking, he made sure to track Saitama's movement to see what he did, but instead of dodging it like last time, Saitama did something else. In a blur of red, instantly, all the spears that came close to him were completely obliterated.

Motoyasu was forced to bring his arms down. Unable to keep them up, he stared at his opponent. He just stood there, looking blankly back at him. That bored face that burned straight into his memory, an image he'll spite 'till his last breath.

He tried to force his arms up once more, but they wouldn't budge. the only thing he could move was his fingers. He had overdone it. He used more energy than he even had. But he refused to lose like this, in such a pathetic way. He knelt on one knee, using his torso to keep his arms from hitting the floor. He slowly began raising his arms to hold his spear with two hands. Now all he needed was a chance, some kind of opening.

At that very moment, the wind suddenly picked up. The wind suddenly became strong enough to see and scratch the ground. It flew in from the direction of Motoyasu's party members and went directly towards Saitama. The wind had even cleaved a bush in its path to get to the Shield Hero. The gust, strong enough to throw someone across a room, slammed against Saitama's body. Not even a flinch, nor was there a twitch to acknowledge it had done anything. But it did one thing. The wind threw Saitama's capes over his face.

It gave Motoyasu a chance.